Hunger
by Refia
Summary: Chomper is growing and faces the problem of needing meat in order to sustain himself. Can he find a solution to this problem, or will he have to leave the Great Valley to protect his friends from himself? Oneshot.


Hunger

Chomper was hungry. And that was a problem. He had eaten a whole nest of stingy flying buzzers, some of those strange big-eyed waterflyers and many other creep crawlies of the Great Valley. And still he was hungry. That was not good, not good at all. Because he knew why he was hungry and why that was a very big problem.

He was growing, like every other creature, like trees, creepy crawlies or his friends. He had lost all his first teeth, as Ruby had called them, already, to have sharper and larger teeth come in the place. His claws had grown, his legs, body and jaws had become more muscular and his tail longer. Yes, he was becoming a healthy preadolescent sharptooth indeed.

Only, he wasn't happy with that, because he lived in the Great Valley. Growing up meant that he could no longer still his hunger with creepy crawlies. He would need meat, inevitably. And he couldn't get that in the Great Valley, not because there wasn't any – there probably was more here than anywhere else in the world – but because his friends and their family lived here. His friends were flatteeth, leaf eaters and he was a sharptooth living amongst them. Because he was different. He could speak the language of the leaf eaters as well as the language of his own kin. He had befriended flatteeth, played with them, lived with them and laughed with them.

That's why he couldn't find meat here. It would be wrong, it would be betraying his friends. If he followed his instincts and killed a prey here, they wouldn't even be his friends anymore. They'd be disgusted, or frightened, or probably both and their parents would banish him from amongst them, or worse.

He didn't want that. He wanted to stay with his friends, Littlefoot and the others. The Mysterious Beyond still wasn't safe, Red Claw and his fastbiters still roamed it, and even though he had grown to the size of a fastbiter, he was still but a snack to the cruel Red Claw. It was not a pleasant thought. So he had to stay here, or die, but if he didn't find a solution for his hunger problem, he would also die, either from starvation or at the tails and horns of the grown ups.

A sigh escaped his jaws and his red eyes got a saddened look in them. Stingy buzzers and creepy crawlies would keep him from starving, at least for a few more days, but he really needed a more filling meal. The young Tyrannosaurus sighed again. Sometimes he wished he could eat green food like his friends, then he would have no problem now at all. And he had tried it, time and time again, but he just couldn't swallow it. And even if he did, his stomach hurt for days and he was more hungry than before. Green food was just not meant for him. He was a sharptooth, a meat eater, and nothing could ever change that.

"Hey Chomper!"

The young sharptooth looked up to see his best friend approach at a steady pace: the longneck Littlefoot. Like Chomper, he had grown, being the size of a full grown tree-horn already. Running was nothing for Littlefoot anymore, his size and the weight that came with it prevented it. But it was natural, so he didn't mind. Littlefoot needed to eat more now, too, but the Green Valley had more than enough to nurture him. And he still played with his friends like before. He still wasn't an adolescent, after all.

"Hi Chomper, ehm, won't you come play with us today?" Littlefood asked, rather carefully. He had noticed the sad look in his sharptooth friend's eyes. The young longneck wondered what was wrong and hoped it was nothing serious.

"I don't think I can, Littlefoot," Chomper replied hesitatingly. "I, eh… I'm… hungry." A third sigh escaped his jaws. There, he had admitted it. After all, there was no point in hiding it. Better informing his friends of his food problem now, than when he was so famished his instincts would take over his common sense.

Littlefoot frowned. "You couldn't find enough stingy buzzers and other crawlers today?" That had to be it, for how else could Chomper be hungry? There were loads of creepy crawlies in the Great Valley!

"No," Chomper said, shaking his head. "I found as many as I always did before, but I'm still hungry." The dark blue sharptooth swallowed hard. "I… I think stingy buzzers and crawlers aren't enough for me anymore…"

His longneck friend gasped and instinctively did a step backwards. He understood the words of his young friend all too well, and he wished he hadn't. "You mean… You need…?" Littlefoot didn't finish that sentence. It was too hard for a leaf eater like him to say it.

Chomper nodded slowly. "I'm growing Littlefoot, just like you and the others. So… I need more food, I need… I need meat."

The young Tyrannosaur expected his friend to turn around and flee, or warm the grown ups or do anything drastic… But he just frowned and sighed, shaking his head sadly. "I know. And I suppose it's normal, but what are you going to do now? I mean, you can't…"

"I can't get meat in the Great Valley. I know that. I promised I wouldn't eat friends or their family when I came to the Valley, didn't I? I'm going to keep that promise, Littlefoot," Chomper stated, with all the confidence and determination he could bring up. "But I need to eat meat, and I can't get it here and I don't want to become a danger to you all. So there's no other choice for me to leave the Valley."

Littlefoot gasped, his eyes wide. "No, Chomper! You can't leave the Valley, Red Claw is still out there!"

"I know," the sharptooth answered. "And I've been thinking about it, and I realized there's no choice. My friendship for you and the others is bigger than my fear for Red Claw."

Yes, that was the only solution, the young Tyrannosaur thought. He got to his feet, dusted himself off a bit with his short but muscular arms and looked up at his friend. "But don't worry Littlefoot, I won't be going forever. I'm just going to find food in the Mysterious Beyond around the Valley to still my hunger and then I'll come back until I'm hungry again."

"It's not safe, Chomper. Even if it's just for a while, Red Claw is out there, as well as other sharpteeth. You can't go alone!" The longneck exclaimed, now more worried for the safety of his friend than fearful for Chomper's hunger.

Chomper managed to smile at that. "You know you can't come with me Littlefoot. It wouldn't be any safer, for nobody of us is strong enough to go against Red Claw yet. Besides, it would only damage your view of me. I mean, you guys can barely stay around when I'm eating creepy crawlies…"

"But you're our friend…" Littlefoot began, but Chomper interrupted him.

"I know, and I am very happy to have such great friends like you and the others. And that's why I'm going out there, alone, so that I won't loose you as my friends."

---

He had left the Great Valley both sad and relieved. Sad to leave his friends and the safety of the Valley, relieved because he would not be a danger to those he held dear now.

That was two days ago.

Right now though, he was sad and very hungry. He missed his friend, he missed Ruby and the comfort of his sleeping cave. Hunting in the Mysterious Beyond so far hadn't been a great success yet. Sure, his instincts helped him, somewhat, but he still had no real hunting experience, he hadn't been old enough to learn it from his parents when he was with them. All he had caught so far was more creepy crawlies and stingy buzzers, less of them than he caught in the Great Valley. The only good thing so far was the fact that he hadn't encountered Red Claw yet, nor had his sniffer caught the cruel sharptooth's scent yet.

His stomach rumbled again and he placed his hands over it, sighing. "So hungry…" Chomper sighed. Why had left the Great Valley? At least there he could fill his stomach with something, here only with air and way too little insects. All he could think of now was his hunger. Hungry, his mind screamed, again and again. He actually began to drool as he imagined him sinking his teeth in a big piece of meat. The bright circle burned down on him mercilessly, making the entire ordeal even heavier.

_Splash_.

His ears caught that sudden sound and Chomper perked up, frowning. The cloud that hunger had cast over his mind dissipated enough for him to think straight again. He sniffed, trying to detect any scent that stood out. Something had to make that noise, didn't it?

_Splash_.

There it was again. It sounded like something hitting water. Intrigued, and not a little driven by his hunger, he sped up his pace as he walked in the direction of the sound, all while sniffing with his sniffer to pick up any scent of possible prey. He hated how it was a windless day today. Wind would help him greatly to detect scents.

_Splash_.

The sound again, louder and closer than it had ever been before. Chomper looked up, noticing that the sound came from behind a large and high rock wall. He sniffed again, now clearly smelling water, and something else. The scent of another creature, but he didn't know what kind. He had never sniffed it before. Determined, the young sharptooth began to climb up the rock wall, driven by hunger and the idea that there might be a possible meal waiting for him once he reached the top. During his climb, he could hear more of those splashing sounds. It confused him. What could be making the sounds, he wondered, and why? Finally, he reached the top. He found a small space behind a particular large boulder and crouched down there. Carefully and slowly, he glanced behind the boulder.

And gasped.

For what he saw was definitely not a future meal. It was a large dinosaur – compared to him – being bigger and longer than Littlefoot, the largest of his friends, was. The dinosaur walked on his hind legs, but had long, muscular arms with three fingers, the longest finger having a very big, sharp claw, far bigger than those on his other fingers. It reminded Chomper of the large claw fastbiters had on their toe. The neck of the dinosaur was a bit long for a bipedal dinosaur, and it supported a – for a dinosaur – strange head. It looked very much like the head of those belly draggers. But, regardless of how strange this dinosaur looked, one thing was clear: it was a very big sharptooth.

The strange sharptooth stood in the middle of a small pond, up to his ankles in the water. His yellow eyes stared intently at the surface of the water, observing the fish swimming below him. He held his entire body and head completely still, except for his right arm, which he slowly raised. The large claw on the longest finger gleamed in the sunlight. Chomper watched, intrigued. And then suddenly, the sharptooth slammed his raised hand down into the water.

_Splash_.

The sharptooth pulled his hand out of the water, a fish impaled on its very big claw. Delighted, the sharptooth threw the fish into the air and let it drop in his mouth. He chewed on it for a few moments and then swallowed his meal. Then the sharptooth calmly took on his former stance again, staring down intently in the water, holding his body perfectly still, a clawed hand raised, ready to strike.

Realization dawned on Chomper. This wasn't a meat eater sharptooth, but a fish eater! He had heard of those from his parents. They were very, very rare, because it was more difficult to find places to catch swimmers than places to find leaf eaters to eat. The young Tyrannosaur wondered what one of them would be doing out here, up high in the mountains surrounding the Great Valley. Surely there weren't enough fish here?

Not that it mattered, Chomper thought. After all, the sharptooth was at least having a meal, while he sat here behind a boulder with a huge hole in his stomach because of the hunger, watching another sharptooth eat. His stomach rumbled again, quite loudly. Quickly Chomper ducked behind the boulder, his hands on his stomach. He prayed the sharptooth hadn't heard that. He knew from experience that disturbing eating sharpteeth was a very bad idea. He heard sniffing. Chomper gulped, the sharptooth had heard him! The young Tyrannosaur then heard the sound of mighty legs wading through the pond.

"Come out, little one," A deep, hoarse voice growled.

Chomper's jaw dropped. The sharptooth had spoken the language of flatteeth! He didn't know any sharpteeth who could do that except for him! A strange thought popped up in his head: maybe he had finally found a sharptooth who he could teach how to be friends! Slowly and carefully, Chomper perked his head up from behind the boulder. He still would have to be very careful. Fish eater or not, possibly friendly or not, this was still a sharptooth.

"Please, don't hurt me," he said with a small voice, looking u at the strange sharptooth with the belly dragger head, not without fear in his young eyes. However, there came no violent response, in fact, the strange sharptooth's eyes widened in surprise.

"You're a sharptooth, too," the stranger muttered, looking behind the boulder to get a full look at Chomper. "And yet, you speak flatteeth. How?"

Chomper smiled. "Because I live with leaf eaters! But how come you speak flatteeth, sir?"

The mysterious sharptooth with the big claws smiled, a strange expression on such a terrifying head with jaws full of straight, pointed teeth. "I grew up following a herd of flatteeth, little one. That is how I learned." He was interrupted by the sound of Chomper's stomach rumbling. The sharptooth laughed, a terrifying sight and sound to any who wouldn't know him. "Hungry, aren't you, little one?" Not waiting for Chomper's reply, the dinosaur turned around and waded back in the pool. A splash later, he came back, another swimmer impaled on his large claws. "Here," he said, throwing the fish at Chomper's feet.

Barely managing to say a hearty "Thanks!", Chomper immediately snatched up the foot and swallowed it in one bit. Once it hit the bottom of his stomach, the young Tyrannosaur let out a content sigh. He then looked up gratefully at the one who had fed him without Chomper even asking. "Thanks you again, eh…" He suddenly realized he didn't know the stranger's name.

As if sensing the young sharptooth's question, the older sharptooth cracked a smile. "The name is Claw, little one."

"And I am Chomper, nice to meet you Claw!" The dark blue Tyrannosaur smiled broadly. "You're the first nice sharptooth I meet, aside from my mommy and daddy." Chomper suddenly frowned. Another question begged to be asked. "Why are you nice, Claw?"

The fish eater laughed again. "As I said, I grew up following a herd of flatteeth. Fish eaters like myself are not very good parents. I had to learn everything myself. Fishing came by instinct, but finding water was a lot harder when you're young. So I followed leaf eaters, who head for water to find food. And in my case, water's where my food is, too." Claw let out a nostalgic sigh as he remembered the good old days. "As I followed them, from a distance at first, I learned their language, slowly and they became accustomed to my presence, especially once they learned I am a fish eater. And so I spend my young days in the company of leaf eaters, which is why I'm… nice." He frowned and tilted his head sideways, giving Chomper a curious glance. "What about you, Chomper? Why are you 'nice'? And if you live with leaf eaters, what are you doing out here on your own?"

Being remembered of his food problem made Chomper sad again and he sighed, dropping his head. Slowly, he began to tell Claw his lifestory and his growing up problem that had driven him to the Mysterious Beyond.

---

"And that's why I'm out here on my own," Chomper finished, ending his tale. He sighed and shook his head sadly. "I like my friends, and I love living in the Great Valley, but there's just no food for me there."

"I see," Claw murmured thoughtfully, looking at Chomper with something in his eyes that bordered on respect. "So you left for these dangerous grounds to ensure the safety of your friends. That's very admirable, Chomper."

"That's what I thought, at first," the young sharptooth replied sadly. "But now my hunger tells me it was foolish. At least there were creepy crawlies and flying buzzers in the Valley. Here there's nothing. The swimmer you gave me was the first good meal I ate in three days!" Chomper sank down on the ground, more hopeless than ever. There just didn't seem any way out of his food problem. He stared with envy at Claw and his huge fishing claws. "I wish I was a sharptooth like you now, than my problem would be solved and I could go back and live of fish."

Claw's eyes widened somewhat as Chomper's last words gave him an idea. "Is there fish in the Great Valley? And more than just one little pond like this one here?"

The young sharptooth laughed. "Enough water? There are pools everywhere, and one big river that goes through the entire valley! And many waterfalls and fast waters!"

Claw's jaws formed a smile. "Then what do you say of this idea, little one? I go home with you and fish for us both, until you've got the hang of fishing yourself. Wouldn't that solve your problem? You're not eating leaf eaters than, while you still can fill yourself with meat."

Chomper could barely believe his ears. His jaw dropped as he gazed at the older, larger sharptooth with disbelief. "You… you serious?"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Claw replied, shrugging. "Having a place to settle down would be a nice change of pace. Wandering looses its appeal after some time. And you said there was enough water, and where there's water, there's fish. So, why not? What say you, little one?"

Chomper jumped up, overjoyed. He hadn't expected this fortunate turn of events! One worry bothered him still, however. "Well, I would love that, but… You do only eat fish, right?" He certainly didn't want to guide a grown up sharptooth in the Valley and risk his friends becoming said sharptooth's meal. So that's why he wanted to be absolutely certain that Claw was trustworthy. But why wouldn't Claw be? He spoke flatteeth, after all!

"Don't worry, in my entire life I haven't eaten a single leaf eater yet," Claw assured his young companion. "I have no reason to. Fish are good enough for my kind and it allows me to live relatively peacefully among leaf eaters, instead of alone in the wastelands. I have no intention of letting that advantage slip through my claws just for a bite of flattooth."

Chomper let out a relieved sigh. "That's great!" He looked around a bit, trying to find a path that would take him back to the Great Valley, his current home. Once he had found it, Chomper mentioned for Claw to follow. "Common! It's this way! I can't wait to introduce you to my friends."

---

"I'm worried for Chomper," Littlefoot said, hanging his head. "He's been gone for five days by now. What if something has happened?"

The growing longneck had been so worried for his sharptooth friend ever since he had left, that he hadn't been able to play with his friends. He even ate less, and probably would keep doing that until he saw Chomper come back to the Valley, fed and healthy.

"That's possible, it is, it is," Ducky agreed. The female broadbeak had grown also, like all her friends. She had taken on a darker shade of green and she too had reached the size of a fastbiter. Like Littlefoot, she was worried for Chomper. Her sharptooth friend hadn't even said goodbye when he had left for the Mysterious Beyond. Only Littlefoot had seen him leave.

"Or maybe Chomper couldn't find any food, no food Chomper could find!" Ruby quipped in. The fast runner had almost reached her full length and her amount of feathers had increased, as well as become more colourful and larger.

"Or maybe he encountered other sharpteeth and left to live with them," Cera grinned. She didn't mean it, but she still loved suggesting bad things. She neared the size of Tricia now, and her three horns had greatly grown. Breaking rocks with her head was no problem anymore now.

"Chomper no do that!" Petrie gasped, Cera's suggestion frightening him. "We his friends!" The young flyer had become older, naturally, and his wings were stronger and bigger now, making him a better flyer with higher endurance.

Next to Petrie, Spike nodded his agreement with his flying friend. Growing up hadn't caused the spiketail to talk, no, only made him eat even more and faster. Spike's backplates had begun to show and he had grown the four spikes on the end of his tail that marked him as a member of his kind. All that worrying about Chomper had made him hungry, though, and he walked out of the little circle the group sat in to start munching on a nearby bush.

"Maybe we all just worry to much," Cera said with a snort. "Chomper's gotten older, like all of us, he can take care of himself. He'll come back."

"I hope so, Cera," Littlefoot replied, sounding not very convinced. "It's just that…"

The sound of running footsteps interrupted him, as well as screaming. Frowning, the group got to their feet and looked around, trying to figure out what was wrong. Outside of the forest they sat in, they could see many dinosaurs all running in the same direction, some of them screaming. They were running away from something, but what? A flyer flew over their heads.

"Run children, there's a sharptooth in the Valley!"

Everybody gasped in shock. Littlefoot at first thought that Chomper had come back, but everybody in the Valley knew him, so they wouldn't run from him, would they? Besides, Chomper was still a young sharptooth, no matter how much he had grown already. That left only one option: there was another sharptooth in the Valley. A real one, hunger for meat included. A look of understanding passed between the six friends. Just as they all wanted to run off for safety, they could hear another voice.

"Wait! Come back! He's not dangerous!"

That voice, they all recognized. "Chomper!" they cried as one, before breaking into a run. But in the opposite direction of all other inhabitants of the Great Valley, _towards_ Chomper's voice and the sharptooth.

As they emerged out of the forest, they could see their friend Chomper, who was indeed in the company of another sharptooth. A big adult sharptooth, with a strange head, like that of a belly dragger, and huge claws on its longest fingers. They hesitated and came to a halt, the sight of the large sharptooth making them waver.

Chomper noticed his friends and smiled, waving at them. He then tugged at Claw's arm. "Come on Claw, I want you to meet my friends!"

Claw grinned, amused rather than worried with the effects of his appearance in the Great Valley. "I'd be delighted to, little one."

The two sharpteeth approached the group of friends, who were by now so frightened that their feet refused to move, even though they really wanted them to. Some of them just closed their eyes and waited for the end. Littlefoot, being the largest, put himself protectively before his friends, Cera quickly joining at his side.

Chomper didn't seem to be aware of his friends' fear or distrust. He still had a big, happy smile on his face as he walked over to Littlefoot and the others, closely followed by Claw. When the two sharpteeth stood right next to the leaf eaters, the youngsters truly saw how big Claw was. He towered above most of them. Only Littlefoot, if he stretched his neck as high as possible, would be capable of looking the sharptooth adult in the eye.

"Hey guys, I want you all to meet Claw!" Chomper said happily, indicating with a hand to his sharptooth friend.

"How are you doing, little ones?" was Claw's greeting. The grown male sharptooth was quite aware that he scared Chomper's friends, but he was used to that. All leaf eaters ran away from him, or most did at least, until they learned that he was a fish eater and could speak the tongue of the flatteeth.

Littlefoot and his friends were very surprised when they heard a sharptooth other than their young friend Chomper speak their language. Their jaws dropped and they gazed bewildered at the adult sharptooth Chomper had brought with him.

"You… you speak flatteeth?" Littlefoot finally asked in disbelief. Although they all knew the answer already, they weren't completely sure if their ears hadn't been deceiving them. It just seamed so strange, to hear a fully grown sharptooth speak the language of the leaf eaters.

Claw gave a short nod. "That, I do." The fish eater let his gaze wander over each of the six members of the little group. "You must be Littlefoot," he said once his gaze came to a halt on the young longneck.

"Eh, yes, how do you know that?" the growing dinosaur demanded, confused.

Claw rolled his eyes and then nodded in Chomper's direction. "This little fellow here told me. He speaks quite highly of his flatteeth friends."

Cera glared at Chomper. "You just told everything you know about us to a grown up sharptooth? And you led him in the Valley?! What's next, you told him how we taste?!"

"Don't worry Cera," Chomper assured the treehorn with a smile. "Claw is a friendly sharptooth, just like me! And he only eats fish, no dinosaurs!" Excitedly, the dark blue Tyrannosaur rambled on. "And he's going to fish for us both and teach me how to fish! That way I can eat meat without having to leave you guys! I can stay in the Valley!"

"He's been saying that during the entire trip to the Valley," Claw said with a bored sigh. He then winked at Chomper. "But I suppose I understand his enthusiasm. I know from experience that it's nice to have others around that _aren't_ trying to eat you or chase you away."

"You don't say," Cera scoffed.

Claw lowered his head to the same level as Cera's and grinned a sharptoothed grin. "Feisty one, aren't you?" The adult sharptooth then made a snapping sound with his jaws, making Cera scream and jump back in fright. Claw reared back to his full height and laughed. "Fortunately for me, I have experience with treehorns such as you."

Chomper laughed, too, knowing that Claw had only been trying to scare his treehorn friend, not hurt her. He was interrupted when Littlefoot asked with a frown how Claw could speak flatteeth and how he and Chomper had met. Eagerly, Chomper gave a very short version of Claw's history and his own adventures in the Mysterious Beyond and how he had met the fish eater. Just as the young Tyrannosaur finished his tale, he was interrupted by a new, but familiar voice.

"Sharpteeth, get away from our children!"

Chomper felt his stomach turn upside down and became nervous. Convincing his friends Claw was good wasn't so difficult as his friends were open to new things, but convincing the grown ups would undoubtedly be a whole lot more difficult. Claw, however, seemed unperturbed nor fearful. The stoic sharptooth merely smiled.

"Ah, those must be your parents, little ones," he said calmly. "I had better introduce myself then. You coming, Chomper?"

---

The sound of something splashing in water drifted through the air for a moment, followed by the sound of strong jaws closing with a snap, followed by content munching.

"Straight into your mouth, you are becoming better at catching, Chomper," Claw noted with some satisfaction, as he observed his little friend munching happily on his fish. Once Chomper had swallowed his meal down, the older sharptooth waded back into deeper water, where it came up to his knees, and continued to fish, this time for himself.

"Yeah, well, I wish I could get better at fishing, though. I feel like I'm using you, Claw," Chomper replied with a sigh. His fishing friend made no notion that he had heard Chomper, Claw still stood completely still in the water, a hand raised. A splash later, Claw tossed a fish in his waiting jaws. Chomper felt disheartened by the ease Claw could catch fish with.

"Patience, little one," Claw replied. "Once you're big enough so that the water doesn't reach to your chest anymore, you'll get better at fishing." He winked at his little friend. "There's a reason you never see a fastbiter fishing."

Chomper laughed at that. It was true, he supposed. He was still a bit too small to go fishing into deep waters, where he had the most chance to actually catch something. Though he had no big claws to do the job, Claw had assured him that jaws could work just as fine, as long as you were quick. The problem was that Chomper wasn't quick yet. Because he still stood so deep in the water, his movements were slowed considerably and that prevented him from catching meals on his own. He was lucky Claw was there.

"Well, I think I'll go play with my friends now, if you don't mind, Claw," the young Tyrannosaur said, scratsching his side with a claw absentmindedly.

"I'm not your mom, little one, you can do what you want, you don't need my permission for anything," the adult fish eater reminded him.

Chomper rolled his eyes and shrugged. "Right. See you later then!"

"Sure thing, amuse yourself," came the aloof reply.

Chomper giggled and walked away. Claw was a strange one, no doubt about that. Even though he had grown up in the company of leaf eaters, the adult sharptooth still held that fondness for loneliness that almost every sharptooth had, and his speech reflected that. It often came across as annoyed or bored, but Chomper knew that wasn't the case. It was simply who Claw was, and he was okay with that.

The dark blue Tyrannosaur child realized just how lucky he had been to encounter Claw. If he hadn't, he'd still be in the Mysterious beyond now, probably, and most likely starved to death. He was also lucky that the adult fish eater had been accepted in the Valley by the others. Once they had learned that Claw spoke their language and lived on a diet of fish, few had problems with him staying. Of course, most occupants still avoided him if possible, and almost every dinosaur eyed Claw warily, but the adult sharptooth didn't mind. He was used to that, and he could live with it no problem. He was just glad he had a place to stay. The Great Valley had everything he needed: water, fish and occasional company. That's all he needed to be happy.

And Claw being happy made Chomper happy too. He did care for him, and not just because Claw fed him, but also because he was the first friendly sharptooth he had encountered, besides his parents. It gave the young sharptooth hope that there were other sharpteeth like Claw out there and that he wouldn't always just have flatteeth friends, but sharpteeth friends as well.

The laughter of his friends reached his ears. Chomper smiled as he looked at them from afar. They had grown, all of them, but that didn't stop them from playing tag, it seemed. Grinning, Chomper ran over to join them in their game. Nothing would stop him now from having fun with them, after all, his problem was solved.

He wasn't hungry anymore.

The End.

**Hmm, this was longer than I had expected. It's strange to write a fanfic for The Land Before Time. I blame reliving my childhood when I saw some of the movies again last week. They began to interest me again, as cheesy as some of them are (but hey, they are directed at children, after all). And then I found out there was a tv-series, with Chomper in as a main character! I have always loved Chomper, the friendly sharptooth, since his first appearance in The Great Valley Adventure and his return in The Mysterious Island. A very interesting turn for the series, you could say, having a meat eater as friend of the main characters.**

**What made me write this fic is the inevitable problem being friends with a sharptooth brings with it: growing up and the need for meat. In the series and movies the characters may never grow up, but as I've read in another Chomper-grown-up fic here on this site, that's not realistic. So I decided to write this one shot. Other fics about Chomper facing this problem don't really end with a solution to the problem aside from Chomper leaving. No offence to those writers, it is, after all, the most likely scenario. But being the softy I am, I just had to give it all a happy ending. **

**And that's how Claw was introduced. Claw is a Baryonyx, a dinosaur with a crocodile-like head found with a fish in his stomach. Some scientists say his diet was made up entirely out of fish because his body had adapted to catching those slippery things: namely his head and those huge claws on his first fingers. And I thought: "If a Baryonyx can live of fish, why not a Tyrannosaur?". After all, there's so much water in the Great Valley, I refuse to believe there's no fish in it whatsoever. There should be more than enough in it to sustain two sharpteeth, even if one of them is a Tyrannosaur.**

**Well, that's how I got to writing this story. Leave a review, maybe, so I can know what people think of this. Constructive critisism is certainly welcome. I don't mind improving by learning my mistakes.**


End file.
